Life As They Knew It
by OrtonsMistress
Summary: Makayla Stevens is your typical 17 year old high school senior. Lots of friends and involved in many activities. What happens on a fateful day when her life is turned upside down? What happens when her father, Leroy Jethro Gibbs walks back into her life?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize, I do not own unfortunately. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario. If I did, there would be no summer hiatus.**

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing an NCIS fic. If it goes well, I will be posting more to this. I am doing this during any free time I may have between working a full time job and preparing to go back to school part time. Mostly any updates will be on my two days off or if I get some extra time in between.

_September 11, 2001_

"Ugh, mom. Do you know where my volleyball jersey is?" Makayla Stevens asked, walking into the kitchen of her Arlington, Virginia home.

"It's hanging up downstairs sweetie." Her mom, Jocelyn replied, as she finished fixing breakfast for Makayla and her nine year old sister, Kennedy.

"Good, you're going to be at my game tonight, right?" She asked, as she headed toward the basement door. "It's our first home game of the season."

"Yes sweetie, I'll be there as soon as I get off work and get your sister from the sitters." Jocelyn said, smiling at her gently.

Their little family had gone through a lot in the last ten years. The only thing missing, the one person that Makayla and Jocelyn missed, was their husband/father who had been killed in Kuwait ten years prior. Jocelyn was three months pregnant with Kennedy, when she had received the horrible news that her husband was killed in an explosion, his body to mangled and burned that she had decided to have his body cremated and the ashes buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

"Mommy, can Allie come with us to Kayla's game tonight?" Kennedy asked, as Jocelyn was taking her into school at Randolph Elementary.

"If it's okay with her parents, I don't care." Jocelyn replied. "I will call her mom when I get to work, and see if it's okay. I will pick her up on our way to the game, once I get you from Mrs. Grable's."

"Okay, see you tonight mommy, love you." Kennedy said, once Jocelyn had pulled up in front of the school to let her out.

"Bye baby love you too, have a good day." She said, before pulling away from the curb.

As Makayla was walking into her first period class, she looked up at the TV and saw the World Trade Center on fire in New York City.

"What happened Mr. Baldridge?" She asked, looking at her AP English teacher.

"I will explain once class begins." He answered somberly, as he turned off the TV, not wanting other students to see before he had a chance to explain.

"Oookay." She replied, more than a little confused, as she took her seat, waiting for her best friend Natasha to come in.

Once the class had arrived, Mr. Baldridge got everyone's attention.

"Class, today there has been a national tragedy." He started, making the class look at him questioningly. "The Twin Towers in New York City have been hit by two airliners, and they are calling it a terrorist attack on the United States."

"Holy crap." Makayla mumbled, looking over at Natasha.

"Yeah no kidding." She replied, as the teacher turned the TV back on, leaving the classroom transfixed on the images in front of them.

An hour later, the had pretty much been watching ZNN, and seeing what had to be thousands of people running down the streets of New York, when they heard a loud explosion outside their classroom window. Makayla didn't know which way to look, until one of the guys in the classroom shouted. "The Pentagon's been hit!"

"Oh my God!" Makayla screamed, as she realized that her mom was most likely at work then, and could very well been dead.

Before anyone could say anything else, the principal's voice went over the intercom informing the students and teachers that due to the attack on the Pentagon, the high school would be dismissing then and advised everyone to leave in an orderly, but timely manner.

"'Ayla, you okay?" Natasha asked, using her own nickname for Makayla. "Come on, I'll drive you over to Randolph to get Kennedy. You can come back to my house until you get a hold of your mom." She finished, as she led Makayla over to their lockers to get their things, before heading out for the student parking lot.

"What am I going to do Tasha if my mom is dead?" Makayla mumbled, as they were heading to her sisters school to get her. "Our dad is already gone, and mom hasn't spoken to her family in years. How am I supposed to take care of Kennedy on my own?"

"Makayla Marie, don't you talk like that. You do not know that your mom is gone." Natasha said sternly. "The Pentagon is a huge building, it could have been on the opposite side than her office, or she could have not even been in there yet."

"I know this, but I can't imagine losing her. She's all I have left, besides Kennedy, but she never knew dad, so she doesn't have any memories of him." She sobbed, as Natasha pulled up in front of the elementary school. "I need to calm down before I go in and get Kenny. She'll be able to tell right away that something is wrong, if she doesn't already know."

"Do you think Mrs. Cook would let me get her?" Natasha asked, trying to be helpful.

"Just come in with me." Makayla replied, wiping the tears from her eyes and pulling her sunglasses down. Both girls had attended Randolph Elementary together, when Makayla moved from Arizona in '91. So of course the secretary and most of the staff were still the same from back then. Walking into the building, they walked past the main office window and could see the secretary, Mrs. Cook on the phone, no doubt trying to reassure frightened parents that their children were okay.

"Do you know what you're going to tell Kennedy?" Natasha asked, as they were waiting for Mrs. Cook to hang up the phone.

"Just tell her that something has happened near by, and that they are letting schools out, so we're here to get her, and then we're hanging out at your house." Makayla replied, walking up to the desk once Mrs. Cook looked up at them. "I need to get Kennedy Stevens please."

"Right away dear." Mrs. Cook replied, sending her a gentle smile. "Have you been able to get a hold of your mother yet?"

"No, I haven't even tried. I'm afraid I will start panicking if she doesn't answer her phone." She mumbled, knowing in the back of her mind she needed to find out. "I'll try and call her when we get to Natasha's."

A few minutes later, Kennedy came into the office with her things. "Kayla, why are you picking me up?" She asked inquisitively, making Makayla cringe a bit.

"Come on Jelly Bean, we need to get over to Natasha's. School is getting out early today, so I figured I would get you instead of making you ride the bus home." She replied, not wanting to freak her little sister out in the main office of her school. "We'll order some pizza for lunch and watch movies and stuff."

"Can we watch Shrek?" She asked innocently, as that was her newest favorite movie.

"Yeah sure." Natasha said, once she saw that Makayla wasn't able to respond. "We'll even let you watch Titanic with us."

"Cool." Kennedy replied, not being any the wiser to her sisters mood.

By four that afternoon, Makayla still hadn't heard from Jocelyn or had the guts to try and call her. So when Natasha's home phone started ringing, she didn't seem to acknowledge it.

"Hello." Natasha's mom said, answering on the second ring. "Yes, we have her daughters here….Okay, we'll bring them down there." She said, hanging up the phone and looking over at the girls. "Your mom is at Bethesda Naval Hospital. She's okay, just has some cuts and a broken wrist. We need to get you girls down there."

"Okay." Kennedy replied softly, as she had been pretty quiet since Natasha's mom explained to her what had happened, as Kayla seemed to be pretty out of it once they had gotten to the house.

"I just don't understand why someone would fly planes into buildings like that. I mean, they weren't even Americans, so why attack our country?" Kayla finally asked, as she slipped her shoes back on, and grabbed her things.

"I don't know sweetheart, it's hard telling why people do the things they do." Natasha's mom tried to explain, knowing that any answer she may have wouldn't be enough for the young woman.

By the time they had gotten to the hospital, both girls were anxious to see their mom, and make sure with their own eyes that she was really okay. It was easy for some doctor to say over the phone that their mom was alright, just a few cuts and a broken bone, but it wasn't enough to calm their individual fears. Getting out of Mrs. Reynolds car, Makayla grabbed Kennedy's hand, giving her strict orders not to let go, seeing as a lot of Pentagon workers had been brought to Bethesda, and she didn't need to lose her sister in a sea of people. Going up to the nurses station, Makayla waited for a nurse to come over.

"Can I help you?" A kind, older nurse asked.

"Yes, our mom, Jocelyn Stevens was brought in here. She was injured in the Pentagon." Makayla replied, waiting as the nurse typed in her name.

"Of course, she's in cubical 7. Go straight back through these doors all the way to the end, and turn and it will be the first room on your left." The nurse informed them, as she pushed on a buzzer to open the security doors.

"Thank you." Makayla said, walking through the doors at a hurried pace, as she practically dragged Kennedy in behind her.

"Sissy, you're walking too fast." Kennedy grumbled, as she was having difficulty keeping up.

"Sorry Bean." She said, slowing down her walk. "Now remember, we can't go in and jump on mom. She may not be really hurt, but she will be sore." She said, wanting to make sure her little sister knew the severity of the situation.

"I know, Mrs. Reynolds already told me." She said, remembering what the woman had told her as she drove them to the hospital.

"Okay, here's her room." Makayla said, as she knocked lightly on the outside of the curtain, before opening it and getting the shock of her young life.

"Daddy?" She asked, before everything around her went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize, I do not own unfortunately. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario. If I did, there would be no summer hiatus. I also do not own Wakefield High School or Randolph Elementary in Arlington Virginia. I just looked up high school names, and those are I am guessing, either right down the street or around the corner from each other.**

A/N: I know I posted this chapter already, but I noticed that the end was cut off for some reason. So here's to hoping it all shows up now.

A/N 2: Yes this story is taking place back in 2001. I am not in any way, shape or form attempting to dishonor the memories of those who perished on that fateful day. After this and possibly the next chapter, I will be moving on in time, still 2001ish though. I still remember and will never forget 9-11-2001 though.

"Daddy?" Kayla asked, before everything around her went black.

"Sissy?" Kennedy cried, as she watched her big sister faint after seeing someone she thought was their father standing in the room next to their mom's bed.

"Makayla!" Jocelyn exclaimed, as a couple doctors rushed over to assist.

"Mmm, wha' happened?" Makayla mumbled, as she started regaining consciousness.

"Sweetie, you passed out." Jocelyn replied, once the doctors deemed her okay.

"Oh yeah." She mumbled, as she looked up and saw a man she hadn't seen since she was a little girl. "I thought you were dead?" She asked, as Jocelyn spoke to her again.

"Baby, we'll talk about this at home." She told her, as they had been waiting on the doctor to come in with her release papers when the girls had shown up.

By the time they had made it home, Kennedy had fallen asleep in the backseat, so Kayla got out and managed to carry her inside, before placing her down on the couch.

"Makayla, your father didn't die in Kuwait like we were led to believe." Jocelyn said, as they were sitting around the kitchen table.

"Yeah, I kinda got that part already mom." She said, shaking her head. "Why did they tell us that he died though?"

"Well we still need to find that out." She said, taking her daughters hand in her good one. "The good news is, we can leave WITSEC if we want to. We can go back to being Shannon and Kelly Gibbs."

"I don't know what to think of all this." Makayla…Kelly said honestly. "I mean, for the last ten years, I have thought my dad was dead and on the day that's been so horrible for so many people, cause they found out that their loved ones died because buildings fell on them, or they were in a plane being flown into the ground or into a building, there's really no way for their loved one to come back. I shouldn't be this happy."

"Honey that's perfectly normal." Shannon said, giving her a soft smile.

"I mean, why can something good happen for me, when so many other kids are going to have to go to bed tonight without a parent?" Kelly asked, shaking her head. "Can't you say anything dad?" She questioned smartly, wondering what made him show up all of a sudden.

"I can't believe how grown up you are now. You look just like your mom did when she was seventeen." He said softly, unable to stop staring at his not so little girl.

"Yeah I am." She replied, as she started to get a headache. "How are you going to explain all this to Kennedy? I mean, she doesn't even really understand why we are in the WITSEC program in the first place."

"She'll understand sweetie, I mean, it may be a little confusing for her at first, but I'm sure she'll do fine." Shannon said, trying to adjust the strap on her temporary wrist brace.

"How did you two find each other?" Kelly asked, unable to stop the nagging question. "I mean, do you work at the Pentagon now dad?"

"No, I'm an agent with NCIS. We went down to the Pentagon to help out." Gibbs replied, getting up to get Shannon some of her pain medicine. "I pulled your mom out of the rubble that was her office, and I knew it was her."

"Okay." She replied with a nod, glad to know that her parents really hadn't been working in the same building for years, and never realizing it. "Mom, do you want me to get dinner started? I know Kenny will be hungry when she wakes up. We had an early lunch today, Mrs. Reynolds order us some pizza around 11:30."

"Yeah sweetie, that will be fine." She answered, taking the pills Gibbs gave her, once he brought her a glass of water. "Don't make anything too hard. Just some pasta or macaroni and cheese will be good."

After dinner was over, and the dishes were washed and put away, Gibbs and Shannon had sat down with Kennedy to try and explain to her what all was going on. She was a little confused, especially since she had always been told that the body they had cremated was her daddy's. Getting her settled down for bed, Gibbs was needless to say surprised when Kennedy asked him to tuck her in that night and read her, her bedtime story, of The Secret Garden.

While waiting for Gibbs to come back downstairs, Shannon and Kelly were sitting on the couch talking. "So what are we going to do mom? Are we going back to being Shannon and Kelly, or do we stay in this life now?" Kelly asked, looking at her a little conflicted. "I mean, we have lives here now. I'm a senior, I don't really want to leave all my friends behind, but I don't want to lose daddy again either."

"Well baby, I don't think he would mind to live here, until you finish up your schooling." Shannon answered, knowing Gibbs wouldn't want to cause Kelly any unneeded or unwanted stress by making her transfer.

"This sucks mom." Kelly mumbled, laying her head on her shoulder. "I mean, I'm glad that I got daddy back, but it just makes me mad that we lost ten years with him. Kennedy has no memories of him, so she doesn't really know what she's lost with him, if that makes sense."

"I understand where you're coming from Kells, but it is what it is." She told her bluntly, as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm her down like she did when she was a child. It still amazed her every day seeing so much of Jethro in Kelly, whereas Kennedy had Shannon's demeanor through and through.

"You think Kenns talked dad into doing voices for her story?" Kelly asked, chuckling lightly.

"I don't know how many voices he could do for Secret Garden." Shannon laughed, as she tried to picture her tough old Marine doing character voices.

"She could get him to sound like a woman." She said, shaking her head amusedly.

"Alright sweetie, why don't you try and get some sleep yourself." Shannon suggested, as both of them stood up and headed toward the stairs. "You girls can sleep in tomorrow since schools are closed again. Your dad has to go back down to the Pentagon in the morning to help with search and rescue, but he should be here for dinner. We can discuss then what he thinks about moving in here with us until June."

"Okay, night mom. Love you." Kelly said, hugging her mom tightly, before she ran up the stairs. Seeing Gibbs coming out of Kennedy's room, she walked up to him tentatively and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Night daddy, love you." She whispered, keeping her head on his chest.

"Night Kelly-Bear, love you too." He replied quietly, and if he was perfectly honest with himself, he was quite content on never letting his girls out of his sight again, as he kissed the side of her head. Pulling back from the hug, Kelly walked down to her room and shut her door quietly. Going over to her bed, she turned down the covers and went to grab a clean pair of pajamas out of her dresser. Grabbing Gibbs' old Marine's t-shirt, she grabbed a pair of shorts and headed toward her bathroom door. Deciding to forgo on her shower for the night, she quickly changed her clothes and brushed her teeth, before pulling her hair up in a messy ponytail and going back into her room. Grabbing her TV remote, she quickly turned on her VCR, so she didn't have to see anymore of the haunting images of the planes flying into the Twin Towers or the plane flying straight into the Pentagon, which made her want to be physically ill, as she realized how close she really became to losing her mother. Putting in her copy of Beauty and the Beast, she snuggled into her pillows, before the lull of sleep managed to pull her in.

"Did Kennedy get to sleep okay?" Shannon asked, as she and Gibbs were laying in her bed that night.

"Yeah, she reminds me so much of Kelly when she was a little girl." He replied with a chuckle. "She tried to con me into reading her an extra chapter tonight, cause as she said, 'she's had a very hard and confusing day, so the extra chapter is a way to make up for it'".

"I swear that child is too smart for her own good." She replied, laying her head on his chest. "I mean, she seemed to do a lot of stuff earlier than I ever remember Kelly doing them."

"Well she probably sat and watch Kelly do a lot of things, so she may have picked up from that." He whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms snuggly around her waist.

"What's going to happen between us Gibbs?" She asked bluntly, wanting to have some sort of peace, as she tried to fall asleep, her nerves still completely shot to hell and back from everything that had happened that day.

"We're going to be a family again Shan." He told her honestly. "I am not going to miss out on another second of Kelly's or Kennedy's lives. I have already missed ten years." He said, as he started tearing up, which shocked them both as he was never one to cry. "My little girl is not so much a little girl anymore. She's a young woman now and it hurts. It feels like instead of cherishing what I am going to get to experience with Kennedy, I feel like I will be wondering if Kells did the same thing at the same age, or if they are polar opposites for the most part."

"Well I can tell you that Kennedy is a strong-willed little girl. That much she gets from you. The rest of her is all me, where as Kelly stayed pretty much a mini you." Shannon replied, as she continued listening to his heartbeat. "Kennedy loves to dance as much as Kelly loves playing the piano, although she has kind of stopped right now since it's her senior year, and she's doing Volleyball."

"Come on, we better get some sleep." Gibbs said, holding Shannon close to him. "You've had a rough day, and I need to be back at the Pentagon first thing in the morning."

"Yeah, Kennedy will be up before eight most likely." She mumbled, her pain pills having started to kick in, making her sleepy.

"Love you Shannon." He said, kissing her softly for the first time in over ten years.

"Love you too, Gibbs." She replied, smiling at him sleepily.

Around five the next morning, Gibbs woke up when he felt a little body creeping up between him and Shannon in the bed. "What are you doing up already Kenns?" He asked, looking at his little girl questioningly.

"Hadda bad dream." She mumbled sleepily. "Keep seein' the planes hitting the buildings."

"Okay, well lay right here, daddy's got ya." He said, letting her snuggle up next to him. "I'm not going to let anything get ya."

"Hmmm." She sighed, as her breathing evened out, indicating she had fallen back to sleep.

A couple hours later, Gibbs had gotten up to get ready to head back to the Pentagon. Making sure that Kennedy wasn't near Shannon's injured arm, he got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen, wanting a cup of coffee before heading out. Stopping in surprise when he saw Kelly sitting out on the back porch holding her own mug. Walking outside, he let his presence be known before he got up behind her, not wanting to startle her.

"Morning daddy." Kelly said, looking up at him. "You getting ready to head over to the Pentagon now?"

"Yeah, I'll be back here probably after dark tonight." He replied, sitting down beside her on the swing. "Whatcha drinkin'?"

"Cocoa." She replied, looking up at him. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come out and watch the sunrise. My mind has been racing all night, got too much going on right now."

"I know kiddo." He said, hugging her to his side. "Tell ya what, tomorrow we'll just go out and spend the day together, just you and I. We can talk and you can catch me up with the last ten years of everything."

"Yeah, that sounds good." She replied with a smile. "I can't wait."

"Okay, well tell your mom to call me if she needs anything." He said, kissing the top of her head. "Try and stick close to the house today and keep an eye on her. We both know she'll try and do more than her wrist will allow her to do."

"I'll stay here today dad." Kelly laughed, knowing how Shannon hated sitting around being bored.

"Love you Kelly-Belly." He said, smiling at her as he stood up to leave.

"Love you too daddy." She replied, returning his smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize, I do not own unfortunately. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario. If I did, there would be no summer hiatus. **

A/N: Thanks to everyone who placed this story on their alerts and favorites list. Also thank you to the reviewers, they help keep me motivated as I try to get back into the swing of writing fan fiction again. This chapter will mostly just be of Kelly and Gibbs' day together, spending time and catching him up with everything she's done and been involved in.

****NCIS****

A couple days later, Kelly and Kennedy still hadn't returned to school, mainly cause the buildings were still shut down. Shannon was still dealing with the pain in her wrist. The doctors had informed her she would have to require surgery to fix it, needing a couple of pins to hold the bones together. Kelly hadn't really said too much more since that day, every time Natasha would call, she wouldn't be on the phone for very long. Finally Shannon had, had enough of Kelly ignoring her friends and asked her about it over breakfast.

"Sweetie, why are you all but ignoring Natasha?" She questioned, looking at her oldest gently.

"How do I explain what is going on?" Kelly asked, looking at her mom for advice.

"Kells, you just tell them the truth." She replied. "They can't get too mad at you, you were given the identity of Makayla Stevens to protect yourself. Your dad was led to believe that we were dead, just like we thought that about him. Everything will be like it has always been, just now you can become Kelly Gibbs again, you are still the same person and that will not change."

"Part of me misses my old life." She said softly, swirling her cereal around in the bowl. "I mean, I miss my old friends. Maddie and I were going to become Marine biologists together."

"Baby, you can still do that." Shannon said, reaching over and pushing some of Kelly's hair away from her face. "You know there will be times we go back to the old house. You can look up some old friends, maybe even find Maddie again."

"Yeah, I can ask daddy if we can go this weekend." She replied, smiling faintly.

"I'm sure he'll say yes." Shannon said, knowing Jethro could never say no to her, and she was willing to bet that he would be the same way with Kennedy. "You better go get ready, your dad will be up soon."

"Alright." Kelly replied, as she finished the little bit of cereal she had fixed, not sure if Gibbs would take her out for breakfast or not.

****NCIS****

By the time Kelly had gotten out of the shower and dressed, Gibbs had already had two and a half cups of coffee. Once she met up with him in the kitchen, she had kissed Shannon goodbye, and made Kennedy promise to behave, knowing how bored her little sister got especially since they were pretty well cooped up in the house. Getting outside, Kelly climbed up in his old pick up.

"I can't believe this thing still runs." She chuckled, once he had gotten inside and started up the truck.

"Cars last awhile if you take care of them." He said, shaking his head with a smile.

"So where are we going?" She asked, putting on her seatbelt as he drove them to this little overpass diner he goes to.

"I figured we'd go get breakfast then do whatever you want." He replied, glancing over at her.

"Can we go back to the house and work on the boat?" She questioned, having not gotten to do anything like that in a long time.

"Sure, if that's what you want to do." He said, willing to take her anywhere she wanted.

"Yeah, it's where I felt like I always had your attention." She told him honestly. "I mean, we'd sit down there and talk and you'd teach me how to go with the grain of the wood when I was sanding."

"Alright, we can go there after we eat." He said, trying not to show how much her words had affected him. He had thought for sure now that she was all grown up, she wouldn't want to spend that kind of time with him, that she'd want him to take her to the mall and go shopping.

"You're shocked, aren't you?" She asked, chuckling lightly.

"No, why you ask that?" He questioned.

"Cause I know you." She said, smirking at him. "You expected me to want to do something totally different, that I wouldn't really want to spend time with you."

"I just figured you would want to shop or whatever 17 year olds do." He said, realizing she was a lot like Shannon in that way.

"Well I do like shopping, but I'm not that obsessed with it." She laughed. "Now my best friend Natasha, that's another story. Girl could live at the mall and she would be happy."

"Okay, let's go get some breakfast." He chuckled, pulling into the parking lot of the diner, and soon father and daughter were seated and looking over the menu.

****NCIS****

Almost an hour later, Gibbs and Kelly had left the diner and were back at his house. Going inside, Kelly noticed how, for lack of a better word, boring the living room and kitchen looked. Shaking her head, she turned and gave her dad a look that could rival his.

"What?" He asked, seeing the look she wore.

"I can remember mom had this house decorated, with more than just old furniture and empty walls." She said, chuckling lightly. "What made you change it?"

"Things." He replied, as she just shook her head at him in disbelief. "There are some things I left alone though."

"What? Your basement?" She asked, a small tinge of bitterness in her voice.

"No." He replied, taking note of the hidden anger she seemed to hold. "Your room and mine and your mom's old room."

"I thought you told mom that you had gotten married again, like five times?" She asked, looking a little confused. "Did you make them sleep on a cot in the hallway?"

"It was three times." He replied dryly. "No, I just turned the extra room into a new bedroom. None of them ever went into your room or mine and mom's."

"Oh." She replied, shaking her head. "Sorry for biting your head off."

"It's okay." He said, hugging her to him. "I know you must have a lot of different things going through your mind right now."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." She replied, relishing how protected she felt, being back in her dad's arms again. Before she could say much more, her phone started ringing. "Hang on, hello." She said, pulling back from Gibbs a little bit, not wanting him to overhear her conversation.

"Why haven't you called me?" Kelly's boyfriend, Jacob asked. "I've left you messages the last two days."

"Now's not a good time Jake." She replied softly, biting her lip. "Can I call you later tonight?"

"Why are you being so secretive?" He asked, knowing something was up. "Are you cheating on me?"

"No, I am not cheating on you." She grumbled lightly. "Can't I just be busy and have to call you later? I mean, my mom was injured at the Pentagon Tuesday, did you ever stop to think that I am having to take care of her?"

"Well I was, until I stopped by your house a little bit ago, and your mom said you were out." He replied, hating that he felt like Kelly, or still to him, Makayla, was cheating on him.

"Look, I promise I will call you tonight when I get home. It's just too much to get into over the phone right now." She said honestly.

"Alright, call me later then." He said lightly. "Love you."

"Yeah, I love you too." She answered softly, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Bye." Shaking her head clear, she forced back the tears that wanted to fall, and went back into the living room where Gibbs was now sitting on the couch.

"Ready to go work on the boat?" He asked, seeing the upset look on his daughters face. He knew of this boyfriend, cause he had called Shannon's a couple times, trying to reach Kelly when she wasn't answering her cell phone, and Shannon told him that they had been dating since the middle of their sophomore year. She seemed to like him, so he wasn't going to make an issue of it yet, he'd just wait until he met him in person to do so.

"Yeah, let's go." Kelly replied, as the pair headed downstairs. "That was my boyfriend Jacob."

"Yeah, your mom kind of mentioned him to me yesterday." He replied, trying to not appear like Shannon had betrayed her. "We were sitting on the couch watching a movie, he called and your mom told me who he was."

"He's a nice guy and all." She said, picking up a sanding block and wrapping the paper around it. "I'm just afraid he will be mad at me when he finds out I lied about who I really am."

"Honey it's not your fault." He said, telling her basically the same thing Shannon had that morning. "If he really cares about you like you think, then you being Kelly instead of Makayla won't matter to him."

"This is so weird." Kelly chuckled, as she started sanding some of the wood. "When I used to wonder what life would have been like, had you not died, or we didn't have to be in WITSEC, I never thought we would be sitting in the basement talking about boys. I figured you would threaten to shoot them or something."

"Oh that will happen, don't worry." He said, smiling at her gently. "I haven't even met him yet, so I can't really threaten to kill him if he hurts you, until that happens."

"Maybe I'll have him over this weekend." She said, chuckling lightly. "Do you have to go help with anything at the Pentagon?"

"No, they should be done with the search and recovery then." He said, sanding his own side of the boat.

"Okay." She replied, as they spent some time in a comfortable silence, each just working on the boat.

****NCIS****

"Do you do any other sports besides Volleyball?" Gibbs asked a little while later. They had gone upstairs to have some lunch, and were now sitting at the kitchen table.

"I play softball in the spring and basketball in the winter." She replied, picking the crust off her bread.

"You still hate crust?" He asked, chuckling a bit.

"Yeah, I mean I can eat it, but I don't know." She laughed lightly. "I probably won't get to play basketball this winter. Not even really sure how much Volleyball I will play."

"How come?" He asked, not sure why she would just quit playing her sports.

"Well if mom has to have surgery, then I'll need to help keep Kennedy busy, taking her to her own activities." She said, like it was no big deal really.

"What am I, chopped liver?" He asked, making her laugh.

"No, but you work a lot obviously." She pointed out, knowing he had crazy hours at the Navy Yard. "Plus I tore some tendons last spring in softball, and the doctor doesn't really want me playing volleyball, but he said if I can be careful, then I can have the surgery during basketball season, and hopefully be back in time for softball. Coach Miller isn't too wild about letting me play a lot cause of it though."

"I can make time for my family Kells." He said, looking at her seriously. "I don't know if I like the idea of you playing with your ankle that way either."

"Dad, the doctor said I would be fine. I don't have to run much in volleyball, that's why he said I would have to quit basketball, if I want to be able to play softball in the spring." She said, taking a sip of her juice.

"You were always too stubborn for your own good." He said, shaking his head as he got up to clean up their mess from lunch.

"I learned from the best." She replied, smirking at him faintly. "Have you called and checked on mom?"

"Not yet." He replied, swatting her head playfully.

"Okay, I'm going to go wash up." She said. "We can head back to mom's if you want when I'm done."

"Alright, I'll call your mom and see if she wants us to stop and get her and Kenns something." He said, grabbing his cell and dialing the number, while Kelly ran upstairs.


End file.
